


roses are red, romance is dead

by buoyantsaturn



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 07:12:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17762207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: Nico grabbed the bouquet and walked out to the living room to meet Will, kissing him on the cheek before holding out the flowers with a smile. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Sunshine.”





	roses are red, romance is dead

**Author's Note:**

> happy valentines day (almost)! instead of paying attention in chemistry this morning i thought this out so here you go!! i hope you like it!! thanks to eli for naming this fic for me its a real great title!!!!

Nico always pretended to hate Valentine’s Day. It just seemed like the thing to do; he’d always been single around that time of year, and it was easier to pretend he hated the day than to let anybody know he was lonelier than ever.

Then he met Will. It was the day after Valentine’s Day and they’d both been scouring the grocery store aisles for discount candy and they’d made fun of the holiday together. They’d been dating for one day short of a year and had moved in together at the start of the year. Nico finally had the chance to live out his long-hidden Valentine’s Day fantasies.

He’d gone out and gotten flowers for Will, and then returned home where he spent hours making ravioli from scratch. He had Will’s class schedule memorized and knew exactly when Will would arrive, so right as Will’s last class of the day ended, Nico went around the apartment, placing candles on tables and counters and shelves, allowing them to light the rooms. Then, when he took a step back to admire his work, he realized just how much of a fire hazard it was, and took down every candle except for the ones in the dining room.

Nico was practically vibrating with excitement when he heard the door open. He heard Will call into the apartment, “Hey, I’m home,” before he dropped his backpack on the couch. 

Nico grabbed the bouquet and walked out to the living room to meet Will, kissing him on the cheek before holding out the flowers with a smile. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Sunshine.”

Will looked...confused, smiling at Nico like there was a joke he wasn’t understanding. “Uh, thanks, babe, but you know we don’t have to do the whole...Valentine’s  _ thing _ just because we’re dating, right?”

Nico felt like Will had taken a thorn off one of the roses’ stems and stabbed him in the gut. “Oh. Sure, right.” Will hadn’t even tried to take the flowers from his hand, so Nico turned around and took them back to the kitchen. He’d already set out a vase to put them in, so he dropped the flowers in the vase and left them there.

“Do you wanna do pizza tonight?” Will called after him.

Nico didn’t want to do  _ anything _ anymore. “I already cooked.”

Will stepped into the kitchen, draping an arm around Nico’s waist and pressing a kiss to the side of his head. “Aw, you’re the best, babe!” He got himself a plate out of the cabinet and helped himself to the ravioli Nico had made before heading back to the living room.

“I thought we could eat at the table tonight,” Nico suggested, trying to seem indifferent with a half-shrug. 

“I’ve got a  _ ton  _ of studying to do for class tomorrow and all my stuff is already out here,” Will replied, not even looking back. Nico watched as Will settled down on the couch, propping a textbook up on his lap as he started to eat.

Nico felt his shoulders slump in defeat. He got his own plate of ravioli before heading into the dining room and taking a seat. He hunched over the table, poking disinterestedly at his food for a few minutes before Will walked into the room. Nico braced himself for the teasing he was sure he was about to receive, when instead all he heard was a gasp.

“Nico…” Will whispered, taking in the room around him. “Did you...do this for me?”

Nico ducked his head. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Oh no. You wanted to do Valentine’s Day.”

Nico stabbed angrily at his ravioli. “Just forget about it, Will. Go back to your studying.”

Will crossed the room, pulling up a chair next to Nico and sitting beside him. He reached up to cup Nico’s cheek, turning his head until their eyes locked. “I’m so sorry, Darling, I didn’t know you were a Valentine’s type of person. It’s not that I didn’t want to do something special for you, it’s just that… Well, whenever I tried to do a big Valentine’s thing for someone in the past, they always broke up with me like, a month later. I didn’t want to risk that happening with  _ you _ because I don’t think I  _ ever _ want to break up with you.”

Nico’s eyes widened. Was Will about to  _ propose? _ “You--  _ What?” _

“Oh! No, no wait! I didn’t mean that I want to marry you!” Will backtracked. “At least, not  _ right now, _ but maybe in a few years, and besides, it would be  _ way  _ too cliche to propose to you on  _ Valentine’s Day _ of all days! Hang on, uh-- Wait right here.”

Will jumped up out of his chair and ran back toward the living room. Nico waited anxiously for Will’s return, only to hear soft music before he saw his boyfriend again. Will walked back into the dining room with his plate of ravioli, setting it on the table across from Nico, and propped his phone up for the music to be easily heard. Will was about to take his seat across from Nico when he seemed to remember something else and ran back out of the room.

Nico watched and tried not to laugh as Will returned, juggling two wine glasses, a bottle of red wine, and the flower vase. “Do you need a hand?” Nico asked, his laughter starting to bubble out.

“No, no!” Will insisted, carefully setting the vase off to the side - far enough away that it was still visible but not so close that it blocked his view across the table. “You stay there and keep looking pretty, this’ll just take a second.”

Nico blushed as Will set a glass in front of him and went to pour the wine. “Wait, isn’t that the super expensive bottle that your mom gave you when you got your bachelor’s? Weren’t you saving that for something special?”

“This  _ is _ something special.” Will grins at him before pouring the wine, first in Nico’s glass and then his own. He sat down and picked up his glass, clearing his throat like he was preparing to make a toast. Nico prepared himself for something sappy, but all Will said was, “I love you, Nico.”

Nico rolled his eyes and smiled. “I love you, too, you dork.”

Will tapped their glasses together before taking a sip. He made a face at the taste, and hummed. “Did you know that wine’s kinda gross?”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! i'll have something else posted tomorrow for real valentines day so keep an eye out!!


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